Archetype In The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby is a novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald that highlights the American Experiment, which depicts the power that the individual’s choice over their lives. Gatsby does a good job at showing us a story archetype that reminds one of the ancient Greek tragedies, such as Antigone, or the more recent Romeo and Juliet. Star-crossed mortals, doomed to die. But oh, do they leave such a good story for those with a bit more time left on our clocks. Romance, mystery, death, murder, wealth, power, and more. But at the epicenter sits Gatsby, the source of the suffering, whose bleeding heart went from figurative to literal in less than 200 pages. Analyzing his character is the key to discovering why this story went the way it did. Did he do it for honor? Out of a sense of closure? Duty? Love? Or is it a number of different factors, all acting on him simultaneously? It certainly seems to be the case.

Gatsby is an enigmatic character, who reveals very little of himself until the latter half of the book. Until then, very little of his past or personality is known, but that in it of itself is revealing. If Gatsby didn’t want to live in obscurity, he would have revealed himself earlier on to the populace and the main characters, and this would have been a very short book, indeed. Yet it almost seems that he manufactures his air of mystery, to better attract the people of New York, to make him a common figure in gossip, to lure people who indulge in gossip in. If that isn’t Daisy, then no one fits that characteristic

Not only on paper, but he possesses traits that are distinctly from the Fraternal Order . He sees his goals, then sets out to achieve them with relentless energy and will. His one hook to his past, that doesn’t complete his picture, is Daisy, his motivation throughout the campaign in Germany. This novel is a commemoration of this man, who once did much and more for the most basic of desires, of wants. Heart, home, and